Shirley: Mistress of Zero
by Kalistean
Summary: What if C.C. had decided to use Shirley to show him the reality of the task he has taken on himself.
1. Prologue:

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or make any money whatsoever off of it.

Prologue:

Shirley stared down at the monument, unsure of what to exactly do with herself now. Had she betrayed her father like that? A faint reminder of what she had done brought her fingers up to her soft lips. Lelouch hadn't done much, he didn't reject her kiss but he certainly didn't return it either.

Lelouch…that was a name that brought both a sense of joy to her and a sense of distraught. Every second she thought of him was a moment of conflict, yet she couldn't resist these thoughts. She HAD to think about him or she would end up dying, she was sure of this.

Why, why had she followed him that day? She should have just remained home. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, so she had to see for herself. But in hindsight, maybe ignorance really would have been the better choice.

At least with ignorance she could sit down and actually enjoy that she had taken Lelouch's lips. Maybe she had been the first girl to taste those smug lips of his. Sure he was popular with the girls, but he was also a distant man when it came to people he didn't know.

What it because of THAT he had become so distant? If THAT didn't exist then things would have been so much more enjoyable. Maybe, just maybe, Lelouch would still be himself and she could simply remain by his side like always with the dream of stepping forward just a little bit.

But that had been shatter, much like the body she identified as her fathers. The body that had become like that because of HIM. Because of the man known as Zero. Because….because of Lelouch.

"So you are here after all." Shirley spun around at the sound of a voice, a female voice.

Standing before her was a girl about her height. She could instantly see the girl was beautiful, almost perfect in a way. Her hair was the most vibrant green she had ever seen and yet it suited her so wonderfully. Her outfit was a bit odd, it was red and white and it seemed very old fashion, like it would have been in style centuries ago. But oddly enough the outfit suited this girl, as if this girl was designed to wears such outfits.

"You're the one aren't you, the one that shot the other witness when Lelouch had his mask off. Shirley right?"

Shirley backed away from this girl, her eyes widening with fear as she began to recount what she had done, having shot that woman to protect Lelouch, even after what he had done to her father. She was a murderer, a murderer like him.

And now Lelouch knew it too, knew her dirty secret. Knew that she also knew his dirty secret.

"He…he sent you here to have you take care of me didn't he? Lulu, that's probably what he would do. Have you take care of me so I wouldn't spread his secret around."

"No." The eyes of the ageless woman held strong towards the other female. The kept the gaze, forced the teenager to stare into hers so she could stare into the soul of this particular human. "He doesn't know I came here on my own. Besides, he might be ruthless but he is still a child. He doesn't have it in him to bring harm to his friends. His precious people."

"Then why! WHY ARE YOU HERE? Are you just going to mock me? Is that what you want? You want to mock me so much that I break and kill myself so he won't have to?" Tears began to pour down Shirley's eyes; her voice was cracking in her hysterical emotions as they ran rampant in her soul.

"No. I'm not here to mock you. I am here to see if you will be of use to me. You see, while Lelouch is willing to do certain things, I notice how badly affected he was when he learned he had killed your father inadvertently. This showed me just how much of a child he really was. As he is now he will not be able to hold himself up long and he will most likely fail."

"But why come to me? If the problem is with him, why come bother me with all this? I don't want to talk to Lulu now! I don't want to be near him, not when I'm this conflicted!"

"But you see, that's the problem. I can't fix the problem with Lelouch, not by myself. No I need someone that is close to him, that is willing to help him no matter what. Someone that truly loves him. You."

"No, I don't know anymore. I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!" Shirley fell down to her knees, her hands covering her face as she screamed her tears into them. "WHY SHOULD I HELP LULU?"

"Because you love him. Because you want him to love you. I can give you this power, power that will make him love you. Power that will have him make up what he has done to you until you are satisfied. Power that will help him become what he needs to accomplish his goals without fail."

"Are you…sure it needs to be…me?" Her hands still covered her face, her eyes unwilling to look up again into the eyes other the other girl again, not wanting to face someone she knew could see her soul.

"There is no one else that it can be. No one else could change Lelouch like you can. Come; give me your hand so we can begin." A slender hand reached forward, a hand that Shirley's own petite hand grasped.

Lelouch made his way to the monument, a monument he could see the slender frame of a female standing in front of. He prepared himself, ready to cast Geass if necessary against this person; no matter how much he would rather not. He could not afford to handle this situation as anything but delicate.

"Neh, Lulu. Do you remember when we first met? Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I do. You glowed beat red as I asked you for directions to my class. If I remember right you pointed me the wrong way and I ended up over an hour late on my first day."

"What made you stop to ask me? Why not have asked one of the many other people standing around at that time?"

"I don't know, part of me had felt, that I should trust you. That you were someone I could talk to." He almost shivered a little; she was refusing to meet eye contact with him. Why? And what was this sensation, like everything she was saying had a hint of…butter? No, but it certainly had a sweet sound to it but why?

"You know, it made me really happy that we could be friends like this. I really have enjoyed all this time we have spent together. The student council, attending classes together, even the occasional time out alone. I…I never wanted these days to end you know." She began to turn towards him, slowly.

"I didn't want them to end either Shirley. Why do they have to end? Isn't there some way, we can work things out?" He prepared to cast his Geass the moment they had eye contact. He had to make her forget everything, he had to!

"Then, will you make it up to me? Killing my father?" And she opened her eyes to him, and that is when Lelouch realized he had made a mistake, something he hadn't been taking into account when he considered this strategy. But it cost him, for he was staring into a freshly activated Geass, one that captivated him so.

"Yes, my mistress." And without a question, he knelt down before her, because he knew that he wanted to do this for her, to make it up for her. And so he forgot about using his Geass upon her, for she deserved this.

A/N: No Shirley's Geass is not the same as Lelouch's. It's somewhat similar but in other ways it is completely different. To give you an idea, it's the Geass of Manipulation. I'll explain more as we get more into the story.

I'll have chapter 1 up shortly.


	2. Chapter 1:

Shirley, Mistress of Zero Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass blah blah blah

This is unbetaed so bear with me ok?

**************************************

Shirley closed the door silently behind her so as not to disturb her roommate. While this roomie was not one to pry into her private life, she could be a real grouch when woken up from her beauty sleep so it was best not to test her luck.

As quickly as she could get to it, she collapsed into her wonderfully soft bed and stretched out into the covers. But her eyes did not close instead choosing to focus onto her shadowed ceiling. Rest did not take her that night as one thought continued to resound with the presence of her memories to back it up.

"Would you be able to forgive me Father?" It was a whisper from her lips; if it was even as loud as that but the effect of voicing it alone had the impact of a thousand trumpets on a windless day. She quickly pulled herself into a more curled position, tears stinging her face as they left their salty residue on their way to her bed, soaking into the mattress beneath the sheets.

*

Her slender hand turned the knob to cease the flow of warmth. The water dripped down her hair and skin, cooling as time went by. But she refused to move, instead inhaling deeply through her nose and with a single breath, released it from her mouth.

"Breath, I just need to breath. I can do this, I can."

With a twist and s hove the door was opened before her and she quickly stepped into the classroom. Her eyes took in the immediate perimeter, sweeping it in an almost frantic pattern but as such it was futile as it turned up no trace of the boy. She let out the small puff of air she had been holding in relief, though she was a little disappointed to not see him there.

A sudden tap on her shoulder caused her to twist around and gaze into those dangerously brilliant eyes. In their reflection the memories that had been plaguing the back of her mind came to the surface completely.

*

Shirley looked down upon the man on his knee before her. A part of her wanted to begin kicking him and to continue until he was unable to draw air into his lungs, but it was such a small portion of her and it only contained her anger. No, the dominant piece of her wanted only one thing for satisfaction.

"You'll do anything to make it up to me?"

"Yes, I will do my best to make things even between us, my Mistress."

'Even? I don't know if I appreciate the context of that word, but it is something that I'll have to worry about later.' She bent forward and with her hands caressed his face lightly so as to turn his gaze upwards to her.

"Then I want you to hold me tightly." And in there was the surprise. A man that was so inferior when it came to athletics and yet he was so swift and smooth in his capturing of her. His arms were tight as her face was snuggled into his chest and in that she was able to close her eyes, letting herself get drawn into the dream of hers.

"Tell me you love me."

She found herself at arm's length suddenly, surprise opening her eyes wide at such an unexpected reaction. He was deliberately refusing to face her as his head was turned to the side.

"Shirley. I can't."

"Lulu? Why are you?" 'Why is he refusing my command? Is my geass wearing off? No, there was no indication of it and he only acted like this after my command. And I don't think he broke through it either, he would have probably reacting differently than this since I know he is Zero, so why?'

They remained distant from each other, if only by the reach of his arms. Neither of them knew what to do from that point on. As time continued to pass, Shirley began to shiver unsure of herself anymore. When she reached the breaking point she reacted in an instant, through up her geass as her voice was raised to a near scream towards Lelouch.

"Do you hate me then! Do you feel that disgusted by my mere presence that you can't stand to do such a thing?"

"No! I don't hate you, not you, not ever. It's just…I" he could feel that same sugariness that had been in her voice before. This time he kept his eyes away from her, refusing to meet hers.

"They why!" Why won't you show me how you feel? DO SOMETHING!" And in that same breath her lips were stolen by the compelled Lelouch. This kiss was different than their first, this one she could feel his hunger for her as he attempted to devour her ruby lips. As shock faded she moved to return the passion only to have images of her father flash through her mind. With a quick shove she sent him down to the ground.

"No! STOP!" Tears flooded from her eyes again, self-hatred flowing into her veins as she was failing to sort out her emotions. She collapsed onto the ground in weakness, her hands grasping her knees tightly. Lelouch had quickly risen to his feet, but as he started to approach her he was met by more of her shouts.

"Stay away! Just…Just go home for now, leave me here." With no other option Lelouch obeyed her command. He walked away from the balling girl who he knew had guilt wrenching her heart in two, just like his own heart had a horrible pain to match hers.

Several long minutes passed as she lay on the ground crying. She began to breathe deeply as she tried to recenter herself. It took almost half an hour but she was finally able to stabilize her emotions again. Her hand slowly reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, her finger nimbly pressing a few buttons. As rings pulses out from it, she herself waiting until an almost solemn hello spouted out from it.

"Hey. I just want to tell you to act normally at school." A pause with only indistinguishable sound from the other side of the line. "Yes, I'm going to be alright, Lulu." She then snapped the phone before any more conversation could begin and pushed her aching body up. With a quick glance she gave the memorial one final look before walking away from the horrid place to return home.

*

Life returned to her eyes as her brain rebooted her consciousness. It took awhile to access the situation but the results made her act fast. In a blur she stepped aside to allow Lelouch pass her, her skin feeling the stares of her classmates as they wondered what had happened between them. She could feel her arms begin to tremble as she felt herself begin to break down a little.

"Calm down." It was hardly even a whisper but his voice steadied her enough to move into her seat and settle down. Why? Why was he able to evoke her emotions like that from one extreme to another? Everything he did influenced her and she even had trouble breathing in his presence.

She hated this part of her so immensely now. Why did she have to discover it? Why did he have to become that person? Secrets, what are his secrets from her? How many did he keep and how are they important in their relationship?

Her breathing increased as her mind continued to race down the possibilities. Her vision became a shattered mirror as she tried to make sense of everything at once. So distracted was she, she did not feel pain as her body crumpled into a heap on the classroom floor.

Light poured into her eyes are they tried to focus her surroundings into an image. It was white, extremely white and the scent was overbearingly clean. It was a bed with sheets and the mattress was so soft it made her back ache with comfort.

A steady rhythm of a pen could be heard just outside of the curtain which altered her to the presence of the school nurse. Ready to move, she shifted her body upwards and a wave of nausea crashed her violently back down. A few seconds later and the curtain was pulled back to reveal the old hag of a nurse, which accounted for the lack of visits to this office by any of the students.

"Feeling better yet?" No sympathy played across the elder woman. She did not hide her disdain of the students and wished to be rid of them as soon as possible.

"What happened?" Shirley swore she could feel the venom seeping into the air from this horrible woman.

"You apparently passed out in the middle of class and got yourself carried here. You've been 'out' for about three hours I'd say." It was obvious there was a lack of belief in this voice which only suited the horrible monster. So to avoid further contamination Shirley swung herself out of the bed despite the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm returning to class now."

"Good choice." With a shake of her head at the attitude of kids these days, the old witch returned to the work at her desk. What work since she rarely had patients was a mystery to the students. Shirley on the other hand made her way out of the witches den and began to stumble the path back to the classroom. To her surprise a hand caught her wrist and before she could scream she was sitting at a desk, in an empty classroom, with a very annoyed Lelouch before her.

"What do you think you are doing? You are in no condition to return to class right now. You need to go back and get some rest, NOW!" Despite everything, her body betrayed her by becoming enticed by the oh so commanding voice of his. It would be so nice to just act out on such primal emotions but luckily for her anger rose to the top first.

"Like I would want to remain in such a hostile environment! Besides, why would you even care about me? You've done nothing by lie to me and everyone around you this entire time!" She moved to shove him but only managed to slump forward into his stomach in her weakened state. His hands found their way to her back and gripped her firmly.

"I'm not! I'm truthfully your friend! And you are precious to me!"

"NO! A friend wouldn't lie about who they are! I don't know who you are!"

"That's…I don't want to get you involved in this."

"You already did when you killed my father!" A slight prickling feeling heralded her geass as it activated. "If you're really my friend, if you really care about me like you say, then you shouldn't be hiding your past from me."

"I ca…you're right. I'm sorry I haven't told you before; you do deserve to know the truth. I just didn't want anything to happen to you because you knew it. But I suppose that can't be avoided anymore anyways." He pulled her up and sat her back into the seat, kneeling down in the process so they were now on the same eye level.

"My real name is Lelouch de Britannia. I am the son of the current Emperor and the deceased Marianne the Flash."

*

She was leaning into his shoulder, still unsure of how to take so much of the truth. But she could safely say she now understood why he couldn't tell anyone about this. And from the stories of the Emperor about how he had treated his own blood, it left a really nasty taste in her mouth.

"You never meant to kill my father, did you?" It was a difficult thing for her to ask him now, but she needed to know for certain even if she could guess what he would say.

"No, it wasn't designed to be so destructive like that." So her father had been only an accident. Did that really make her feel any better? No, he was still dead and now he hadn't even died in a glorious and honorable death. In a way, it being a mistake made the situation worse.

"Do you think I should forgive you?" There was a pause at this, as if he was searching for this answer as well.

"No, Not right now by any means. I do hope we could reach that point some day, but such a day is very distant and even now only a vague possibility."

"I would like to reach that day with you too. But I don't know if it is possible either. I'm too confused right now and all I can really think about is wanting you to comfort me, but that's not right." Tears began to streak down her face as a sleek hand slid across her back and pulled her against a slender chest.

"What's wrong in wanting comfort? Isn't that a natural reaction to such trauma?"

"But I shot someone to protect you! You who murdered my father and thousands of others! I killed someone to protect you!"

"See, you only did that because of me. It isn't your sin; it is my sin to bear. So put it onto me so you won't have to suffer it anymore." His eye held a hint of fire. He was facing her now, his hand gripping into her shoulders."

"Lay all these sins upon me now. I'll take this burden so just forget about all of this."

"I can't! It haunts me at night and even now! I just can't forget it."

"Then I'll help you forget it all." He began to activate his geass as he kept her gaze."

"NO! I don't want that!" With those words Lelouch felt himself forced to break off from making his command.

"Even if I could forget it, I wouldn't want to. Not if it means forgetting you. I would never want to forget you."

"But you're being tortured by this. Why do you want to keep that up?" She placed a soft hand on his cheek.

"Because while there are bad memories now, there are so many good ones as well and I don't want to forget this love in my heart." She began to draw closer to him, forcing Lelouch to panic just a little.

"But I can't give you anything. I don't have anything I could promise to you and I can't do that to you." He could move back because of the wall and she was straddling him to prevent sideways movement.

"Lulu, shut up." He captured his lips and forgot everything this time. Her father. The woman she shot. All that matter was this moment, this softness. He seemed to relax under her and began to return the passion, his hand moving across her back. And his desire became evident by the hardness pressing into her from below.

They broke apart; their lips remaining close enough for their breaths to mix. Their eyes fixated on each other as if they searched for the answer of their beating heart.

"Are you going to be alright now?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay for now." She slid off his lap and tried to rise to her feet only to collapse. Lelouch tried to rise as well to give her assistance but found his blood flow cut off as well and fell down next to her. Starting slowly but firmly increasing the two of them erupted into laugh at such a pathetic situation.

"Ahem!" The two froze at the sound of someone obviously clearing their throat to catch their attention. They turned to be faced with the image of a devil president.

"You two never came to the student council for your daily duties. Oh to imagine you would run off to 'play' with each other like this. Sure I could imagine Lelouch doing it, but not my poor innocent Shirley. I guess you're really not that innocent anymore huh? Though I suppose you two are young and in love, but please tell me you are taking precautions. I think Nunally would like to wait before becoming an aunt." Milly watched delightfully as the blushing teens turned a glowing red before they streaked out of the room. While she hadn't seen anything, the mood was impossible to miss and even if she was wrong, they were fun to tease anyways.

"Ah, life is good."

*

Shirley rolled out of her bed, head pounding from her lack of sleep. There seemed to be no possible chance of her getting rest by this method and she sorely needed it. Relaxation, with recent times there had been only one source to be found to be able to achieve it. Resigning herself to this task, she dressed more appropriately and slipped out of the room and through the darkness, venturing to a certain campus house.

She took out a key given to all such friends in case they needed to attend to an emergency with Nunally. It clicked in the lock granting her access to the house and she silently crept along the way. She had just turned into the next room to head up the stairs only to spot a familiar length of brilliant green hair.

"What are you doing here?" She said it a bit more loudly then she wanted due to the surprise raising the volume of her voice.

:"Shh, or do you want to wake Nunally and make her curious to why you are here so late?" Shirley glanced briefly over at the door to Nunally's room before returning a much fiercer gaze on the much too confident woman.

"Alright, but I still want an answer." It bothered her that wasn't an apparent weak point to that smug smile facing her down.

"Like I have given to you, I have bestowed a geass onto Lelouch, but you already knew that. Unlike you, I gave it to him in hope of this boy fulfilling a certain objective of mine. Sure you could end up doing it but Lelouch has so much potential it is scary."

"What does any of that have to do with you being here?"

"Isn't it natural that I would want to protect my investment? Also I am known to a portion of the army and thus I need a place to hide, so it kills two stones with one bird."

"Don't you mean two birds with one stone?"

"Ah, I guess that does make more sense. No wonder it always sounded so odd to try and kill a stone with a bird. Anyways, I pose the same question to you, why are you here?" Shirley bristled at that question, obviously not prepared to answer it.

"though I really don't need you to provide an answer to know what it is. So were you just going to use that eye of yours or use old fashion seduction? I mean you do have a nice body but it seems a little too underdeveloped to get the 'great' Lelouch's attention firmly." Shirley clutched her eye at the suggestion.

"Why would I use my eye for such a thing! What makes you think I would do something so underhanded!" C.C. sank down onto her delicate tush so she was more level with Shirley.

"I suppose I never explained fully about the geass huh?" C.C. took in a deep breath then released it in a puff.

"A geass is a, kind of wish." She sighed at the disbelief in Shirley's eyes.

"you've seen the power, experienced its effects and yet you give that sense of doubt to me? This is how it works; I make a contract with someone, for a certain return fee from them I give them the ability to grant whatever wish they want. In other words, I have no control over how a geass manifests. And how it does reveals something important about that person." She stretched out to crack her aching joints only to return to the still confused Shirley. This forced a snort of annoyance from her.

"I see you still don't quite get it. Let's give an example. Lelouch was gifted with Control so he could create a certain type of world. You were granted Manipulation at a time when your emotions were most chaotic. You have a want of control over your emotions and it is granted by controlling the emotions of others to suit your needs, right?"

"Why would you think I would ever do something like that! It's not what I wanted at all!" Anger clouded her reason and had causes her voice to escalate again.

"Now now, quiet please. I wasn't saying you had meant it that way. Your wish was to control your emotions. But the geass does not directly grant a wish, only the power capable of doing so. You wanted control, so it gave you the means of doing so by controlling the emotions of others. That is what you are doing."

"No! I…why are you telling me this?"

"I didn't hide my objective from you. I want Lelouch to be able to hold up to his end of the bargain. To help him do so, I'm using you. And the better you understand the faster and more effective it becomes."

"I didn't want this!"

"Ah but part of you did or it would not have surfaced. You could have refused it anyway."

"I didn't think it'd turn out like this! Don't you care about the emotions of others?"

"It's not that I don't care, it's just that I have to try and remain unattached or it'll created problems down the line."

"Why? What do you want so badly?"

"That I cannot tell you. At least not yet." Shirley could find no reply to this and C.C. made no attempt to further the conversation. She rose from the steps and slipped past Shirley and into the kitchen. She paused in the doorway and looked back at Shirley over her shoulder.

"Go ahead up and try to seduce Lelouch now. I'll leave to give you some privacy. Just leave him some energy afterwards, big plans tomorrow!" And with that she left a very red Shirley with only one option she could see now. Staying firm in her decision, she started the ascent up.

*

She carefully closed the door behind her and let the lock slip into its place. She then sauntered over to his bed and gazed down upon his sleeping face, only to see eyes looking up at her instead. She startled and fell over onto her butt, injuring it pretty firmly.

"I would ask what you are doing here but I'm afraid of the answer." There was no amusement, and yet still some amusement in his voice. It was as if he couldn't decide which emotion to play upon right now.

"I couldn't sleep, and I just remembered how this afternoon felt. And I was here before I knew it. Why are you still awake?"

"Because the voices of you and the witch were keeping me awake." He could almost see her crawl into herself at that statement.

"Uh, could you hear what we were talking about?"

"No, unfortunately I lack that fine of a hearing. Though I was able to discern it was you." He moved up into a sitting position and slid over to allow her a place in his bed, which she hesitated to take.

"Didn't you say you wanted this?"

"I…I just want to be able to relax. I haven't been sleeping you know. That's why I passed out in class today. And I just thought, since I relaxed with you…" She still remained standing, but eyed the spot next to him.

"I figured that, so just hurry up and get under the covers. It's getting quite cold holding them open and I like my warmth." After one glance at the door, Shirley faced him with her resolve and slid into the bed next to him. To her, he felt like such a warm prince. His reaction was a little different.

"MY GOD! ARE YOU MADE OF ICE OR SOMETHING?" He tried to slither away from her, but in a sense of playfulness, Shirley wrapped herself onto him and clutched him tight.

"Oh yes, please warm my heart of ice oh warrior. It has been waiting for a prince like you to come along for such a task!" Lelouch glared at her like she had grown a third head. Though she wondered when he had accepted that she had a second head with such a thought.

"Riiight, like you have an ice of heart oh miss 'I can't kill this poor innocent spider or allow you to even though I'm screaming and striking you quite harshly to get rid of it.' I had bruises for WEEKS after that."

"Hey, it's not my fault you refuse to put on some muscle."

"Meh, then I wouldn't be me. I'd be some brain-dead jock."

"Oh what would I ever do without your sarcasm?" Sighing in a little bit of contentedness at the normalcy of the situation, Shirley buried her face into his bare chest. She allowed her hair to flow down across his skin in a slightly ticklish manner. He felt so nice to her skin, so full of warmth.

She allowed her hand to trial down across his body. Touching against his arms and moving down across his chest where she rested it. Feeling a slight ache in her back from the position, she shifted her body slightly to get a better position and brought her hand down to steady herself.

However, as she did so, it brushed against something that was pointing upwards quite obviously and curiously she brought her hand back to it, only resting her palm on it to test what it was.

"Shirley, what are you…" Shock played against Lelouch's facial expression as Shirley gazed up into his eyes.

"You know Lulu. I always feel lonely at night, even before all of this happened between us. It would always bring such an ache to my heart at times. I guess, I'm tired of being lonely. Are you lonely, Lulu?" She gazed at him, her hand moving slightly as he tried to reason out the situation, and found his intelligence faltering to desire.

**************************

End of Chapter 1: Yay! Chapter 2 will be put on hold during this week due to finals. But after that I'll have all of winter break to write more of this story.


End file.
